Oklahoma City Thunder player Steven Adams made the mistake of calling a Black person a monkey last night.
After their upset win over the defending NBA Champion Golden State Warriors, most of the Oklahoma City Thunder players probably couldn’t find words to describe the feeling. Among them were center Steven Adams who picked the worst one possible words to describe having to play defense against the Warriors’ “Splash Brothers” guard duo of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
When ESPN reporter Chris Broussard asked him what it was like having to guard them and keep them from scoring, Adams, whose adrenaline was still pumping after running up and down a basketball court for almost an hour, fumbled with his words and eventually said:
“They’re quick little…quick little monkeys those guys.”
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Realizing his poor choice of words, Adams quickly apologized.
He told USA Today:
“It was just a poor choice of words, mate. I wasn’t thinking straight. I didn’t know it was going to upset anyone, but I’m truly sorry. It was just a poor choice of words. I was just trying to express how difficult it was chasing those guys around. It’s just different, mate. Different words, different expressions, and stuff like that. But they obviously can be taken differently, depending on which country you’re in. I’m assimilating, mate, still trying to figure out the boundaries. But I definitely overstepped them tonight.”
A bit of history on Steven Adams. He’s 22-years old, originally from New Zealand and he moved to America in 2011 to play high school basketball before going to play at the University of Pittsburgh in 2012. He was drafted by the Thunder in 2013. So, he’s only been in the States where, you know, it’s not cool to call Black people monkeys, for five years.
The court of social media seems to have already forgiven him though, understanding that he’s not from around these parts. But, someone should put Adams on notice that his one and only “get out of racist remark jail” card has now been cashed in. He has no more.
For what it’s worth, the San Francisco Zoo beat Adams to the punch anyway. They named one of their monkeys after Curry last year.
Photo: Screenshot
